Visa and Mastercard are seeking to resolve a long-standing dispute with U.S. retailers regarding interchange fees by pledging to reduce charges and granting merchants more freedom in card acceptance.
According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, the card networks have agreed to lower interchange fees, which generally average between 2% and 2.5% per transaction, by a tenth of a percentage point over several years.
Additionally, under the new agreement, merchants accepting one type of Visa card will not be required to accept all Visa credit cards. This could lead to a categorization of credit card acceptance, differentiating between rewards credit cards, non-rewards credit cards, and commercial cards.
Mastercard commented on the settlement, stating, “We believe that this is the best resolution for all parties, delivering the clarity, flexibility, and consumer protections that were sought in this effort. Smaller merchants will benefit from more acceptance choices, reduced costs, and simplified rules.”